Changing Perspectives on Citizenship

Sophie Whitehead

This autumn, I’ve started working for Young Citizens alongside MA study in Social Justice. This follows four years of working in secondary schools; already my perspective on the importance of Citizenship is changing.

When I reflect on my time as a teacher, I can recall countless instances of 'accidental' Citizenship teaching. From debating in English classrooms to crime statistics in Maths, it’s ubiquitous across the curriculum. The problem is, that’s not always intentional. Citizenship learning is a crucial part of education but is hard to implement consistently well. Thus, it’s vital that teachers think carefully about how it’s embedded into their own subject. Citizenship’s potential is enhanced when the accidental becomes conscious and purposeful. I wish that as a teacher, I had been a little more aware of this as both an opportunity and a responsibility.

Opportunities for learning about democracy, the law and economics also occur outside of the classroom. In my most recent school, I was impressed with the engagement of one group of students in a ‘Passports not Profits’ campaign run by Citizens UK. It aimed to reduce the profit-making element of the citizenship fee for young people who have lived in the UK throughout their childhood. The project gave students the chance to learn about and challenge government policy; they found the passport fees unjust and galvanised outrage into a community campaign. Giving young people the chance to engage with local activism like this is key to developing them as citizens. It shows them that their voices can be powerful.

The campaign’s uptake amongst students demonstrated their eagerness to engage with Citizenship. These experiences allow young people to learn how to articulate opinions. It's an important part of becoming active community members. An ability to untangle political rhetoric, media bias, legal jargon is crucial too. The best way to nurture all these skills is with robust Citizenship education. School efforts at SLT and teacher-level paired with those of organisations like Young Citizens make this possible. Through my own study and work, this year I’m keen to see how research and new innovations can aid further improvements to the delivery of Citizenship education. There’s certainly room for improvement on a national scale. Thankfully, this is paired with the drive of many education professionals to incite and maintain impactful changes.

Explicit teaching on democracy, the economy and law is something students have requested from me many times. Young people do want to be active members of society. Young Citizens’ facilitation of this is an asset to all schools who partner with them and I’ve already cemented my commitment to their cause. Working in the new role with the charity alongside MA studies will doubtless provide new and complementary discoveries. No doubt I still have lots to learn.

We'd love to keep you posted with our news, activities and how you can help in other ways. We'll never sell or swap your details with anybody else. You are free to change your mind at anytime. Please indicate how you would like to hear from us by using the tick boxes below

Your Privacy

We will always store your personal details securely. We'll use them to provide the service that you have requested, and communicate with you in the way(s) that you have agreed to. Your data may also be used for analysis purposes, to help us provide the best service possible. For full details see our Privacy Policy

Young Citizens is aiming to raise £30,000 this year, through appeals, donations, and sponsored events, to celebrate its 30th birthday - every penny of the money raised will be spent on helping young people become confident, active citizens.

Young Citizens is aiming to raise £30,000 this year, through appeals, donations, and sponsored events, to celebrate its 30th birthday - every penny of the money raised will be spent on helping young people become confident, active citizens.

Young Citizens helps young people to become active, engaged and motivated citizens by improving their understanding of the law, their rights and responsibilities and by helping them to engage in democratic society through social action. Each year Young Citizens work supports 250,000 children and young people.

The new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework goes live in September 2019. In this blog David Kerr discusses the opportunities for Citizenship, FBV and SMSC as well as providing school leaders with 10 key actions.

In February, Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked Shamima Begum's British citizenship, following her decision to join a terror cult overseas. Did Javid get this right? Who should take responsibility now?

Would you like a free trial pack of lessons to support pupils' SMSC learning?
This trial pack of lessons from our Go-Givers website contains the lessons "Plastic Pollution" and "Taking Responsibility" for KS1 children and the lessons "Democracy" and "Protecting Local Habitats" for KS2 children.

Here, we give teachers a little support for debating the topic in class with students. Do young people of this age know enough about politics yet? And if they could vote, can they be trusted to do it sensibly?

Would you like some free lessons to help you develop KS1 children's SMSC learning?
This trial pack of lessons from our Go-Givers website contains the lessons "Plastic Pollution" and "Taking Responsibility"

Our CEO tells of his own recent experience of using the law to protect his rights, and explains why basic legal understanding is vitally important for all young people, if they're to be confident young citizens.
Read more